Aiming to save cannons
0 Comments | Buffalo News, Jul 27, 2010 | by Brian Meyer
If cannons could talk, these rusted relics could tell tales that date to the Civil War.
The two cannons, each weighing 9,797 pounds, also might answer some nagging questions, including where they were kept in the decades after their removal from Front Park in 1940.
They might even have something to say about their more recent sagas when they were unceremoniously left near the Canal Side construction project, then later hauled to an outdoor storage yard off South Park Avenue.
The latest chapter of their odyssey is being written now as preservationists search for restoration money so that the 146-year- old cannons can be returned to Buffalo’s waterfront for public display. The preservationists were concerned about the cannons’ deterioration and succeeded in persuading the city to haul them into a garage across from Delaware Park.
“They’re phenomenal emblems of a really important period in Buffalo’s history,” said Thomas Herrera-Mishler, president and chief executive officer of the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy. “But they need a little tender loving care.”
Historians believe the cast iron cannons originally were installed at Fort Porter, a military base that was demolished to make way for the Peace Bridge.
The 11 1/2-foot-long cannons later graced Delaware Park, then at some point were moved to the Front Park Terrace to join seven other cannons. But that’s where their history becomes clouded. All nine cannons were removed from the park more than 60 years ago. In those war times, some were likely melted down.
Based on records from the Buffalo Arts Commission and the Olmsted Conservancy, the cannons eventually were placed near the downtown waterfront at the entrance of Veterans Memorial Park.
While some records suggested that the cannons were stored in Memorial Auditorium after construction began on Canal Side, Donald J. Poleto, a senior engineer for the city’s Public Works Department, said they were always outside until their recent move to the Delaware Park Labor Center. The cannons were stored near a construction site not far from HSBC Arena before they were moved to a yard near the South Park Lift Bridge in 2009, Poleto said.
The conservancy began asking questions about the cannons’ whereabouts in hopes of including them as part of a long-term restoration project at Front Park. When the Arts Commission located them, the conservancy asked the city to haul them to an indoor facility off the Scajaquada Expressway.
“They were deteriorated by rust, and they’re missing their pedestals,” said Greg Robinson, a landscape architect at the conservancy. “Now they’re indoors and are protected from the elements.”
Poleto said the request was honored, even though he didn’t quite understand the reasoning.
“The cannons have been displayed outside forever,” Poleto said. “But our engineering guys moved them very carefully.”
These weapons — officially known as Parrott Rifles — are in dire need of restoration
rust remover